Fundraiser planned as girl, 4, recovers from brain surgery

Four-year-old Leah Vincenzetti of Highland Township underwent emergency surgery in January at Children’s Hospital of Michigan, where doctors removed a large tumor from her brain. A fundraiser for the family is Friday.(Photo: Submitted)

Friends of a local family hope the community will turn out strong to support a 4-year-old Highland Township girl who recently underwent emergency surgery to remove a tumor growing inside her head.

A fundraiser, including food, silent auction, raffle and entertainment, takes place 6-9 p.m. Friday at the Comeback Inn. The business also plans to donate 15 percent of sales all day – from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. – to help Leah Vincenzetti’s family pay for medical bills, insurance deductibles and lost employment hours.

The event was organized by parents of children in Leah’s class at Little Saints Preschool in Hartland.

“Leah endured a 13-hour surgery that was successful, but she may be looking at chemo and radiation in the future,” said Sharon Keenan, a neighbor of the family. “The sweet and very smart little girl is recovering at home now, but her family is facing a ton of medical costs and more to come. They are such a wonderful family.”

Headaches

Sarah and Rick Vincenzetti first noticed something wasn’t right with Leah – youngest in a brood that also includes Henry, 15, Maddie, 13, and Tucker, 11 – last autumn when she took a fall and ended up with a concussion.

“She started getting headaches that seemed to stop her in her tracks,” said Sarah Vincenzetti, who works for the Huron Valley Schools as a parapro in the PAL program at the Apollo Center. “Leah went to emergency when she got the concussion, but since she didn’t pass out or throw up from it, they didn’t do an MRI.”

As the headaches increased, the family sought a neurologist – it was no easy task finding one not already booked through March, Sarah said – and began keeping a diary of Leah’s headaches.

All the while, Sarah kept thinking about her sister, who, many years ago, died from a brain tumor at the age of 3.

Emergency surgery

Then, on the Thursday before Super Bowl Sunday, Leah began walking as if disoriented. Her headaches were getting worse, and she was falling asleep at odd times.

Sarah called the neurologist, who told her to get Leah to the hospital right away. But at Children’s Hospital of Michigan in Detroit, she said, the doctors didn’t immediately see the oncoming emergency and hesitated to order an MRI, suggesting Sarah and Rick instead take Leah home and return Monday, as previously scheduled.

“We told them, ‘We know something’s wrong,’” Sarah said.

The last doctor among many who saw Leah that day agreed and ordered an immediate MRI. The news wasn’t good.

“They pulled us into a room said there was a giant tumor – between the size of a golf ball and a baseball,” Sarah said. “It was just giant, and there was all kinds of fluid on her brain.”

The doctors, she added, “were really amazed at how slight her side effects had been.”

Leah went into emergency surgery the following day for a long 13 hours.

Through it all, it was Sarah’s faith that not only kept her going, but made her confident Leah’s outcome would be positive; during the whole ordeal, she sent text messages to everyone she could think of to ask for prayers for Leah.

“The amount of prayers that went out for her was unbelievable, just awesome,” Sarah said. “People afterward said ‘I prayed the Lord would sustain you.”

“(Rick) was a mess,” she added. “He couldn’t even walk; he was having such a hard time, so I was trying to be strong for him.”

Although Leah is not completely out of the woods – doctors want to do another MRI and a spinal tap in a few weeks, after which they’ll determine whether radiation and chemo are needed – the 4-year-old is “doing amazing,” her mom said, as is eager to get back to preschool to see her friends.

“It’s been such a miracle, we’re so thankful. It’s so exciting to see her recover and get through that.”

Event

Students and staff from Modern Messages Dance Company in Highland Township, who have already lent support by helping the family with means and other incidentals, will also be on hand Friday to perform during the fundraiser.

The Comeback Inn is located at 1451 S. Milford Road in Highland Township. For more information, contact event coordinator Abby Moore at 810-252-1339.